-Most artists are responding favorably. All are VERY busy, so we're gonna build around their schedules; a win/win.

-I plan to double-stat throughout (won't take much room) and issue free Stat Supplements for other systems, including DCC, S&W, C&C, and even Runequest.

-Shouldn't have omitted THAT one (Pathfinder), sheesh. ;> I have close friends at Paizo.

-We'll mention Greyhawk in the historical section (just the facts ma'am) but it will not be used in promotion or actual play. Gary wanted it that way.

-Deities are just masks. ;> See my Immortal set for details (and also for hints on the multiverse that applies to my campaign).

-Aquaria is a continent, Oerid is a continent. Greyhawk is a city in the latter, Empyrea in the former. WotC will receive advance copy of the historical section long before publication, and we anticipate no serious issues. We give them all due credit of ownership, we will not promote use or infract upon Gary's original. This was created before and after my TSR employment, and all I wrote 1980-86 belongs to them. So we'll work around that. But I do have Gary's original handwritten note of approval, and that's a zinger.

-Upcoming: I also want non-English editions; want to work with gamer/fan translators and place it with Euro publishers (avoids all kinds of taxes and stuff). I'll be in touch. :)

-it's (the project) taken 3 years to set up (along with the other stuff I'm up to)

-PR is our worst skill rating; we put all the points into Creativity. :/

-JG is not involved with production, in part because of the delays in existing projects. (All that is working out nicely, btw, just late.) This is a Loxley product. And I can't risk screwing up my very first ever Kickstarter, y'know? So I'm getting good advice on all that.

-Allan T. Grohe Jr. Frank: how will the initial release compare to what you published in a limited edition nine years ago at NTX#1?
-Frank Mentzer That was a mere hint, but it contains the core. I've retooled a few bits of campaign history to avoid legal issues, but that's the premise.

-Jennell Jaquays TBH that part of Oerth is really all Frank. I won't be hurt if any my modifications or changes to his RPGA adventures don't make it into canon.
-I want Jennell's art in the work. Alas, the Jaquays elements in ur Egg of the Phoenix compilation must be left alone, for copyright reasons.

-I'm going to describe a campaign world, in extreme detail. It doesn't hinge on any special monsters, combats, or other one-shot tricks. It's been in constant use for 40 years exactly, on a weekly basis. I'm gonna try to bottle that lightning.

-I started my campaign in 1977 using a far corner of the Wilderlands set, and developed extensively from there. Many of the original names appear in both R-4 and I-12 from TSR, proving the JG connection.

-A lot of outstanding artists (but now independent, no longer TSR Staff) have a lot of work to do, and that'll take a while to schedule in. Rough guess, ship Spring 2018. With this many people on the job I can't dally. This isn't a part-time or basement job, it just got very Real

Comments from me:-Glad Judges Guild is not involved. Frank doesn't need the attached drama.-No stretch goals - wise.-Not going to link to Greyhawk in promotion, but was referenced in the press release-Frank mentioned to me at NTRPG that where Greyhawk was created for wargaming and then used for D&D, Emprea was built for for D&D right from the start.

Exactly. And Gary's point was the Solnor; huge, nearly impassible, as large as the Pacific or worse. So this is a stand-alone continent, its own story. We'll make it very clear before purchase that this is NOT a Greyhawk Supplement; that's WotC IP and we will try very hard not to infringe on their rights or ownership (including giving them material long before print publication, to ensure that).

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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